


Precursor to War

by Lysical



Series: Prompt Fics [9]
Category: Batman (Comics), DCU (Comics), Super Sons (Comics)
Genre: Friendship, Gen, Gift Giving, Jason is a big brother, Siblings, we're dropping the 'good' definition in favor of 'typical' perhaps
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-22
Updated: 2017-03-22
Packaged: 2018-10-09 04:27:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,314
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10403928
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lysical/pseuds/Lysical
Summary: Jon needs to get Damian a gift, and he can only think of one thing. He goes to the obvious person for help.--Jason leaned out of the apartment and scowled down at him. "Did you want something or were you just going to stand out there like a dejected puppy all day?"Jon gulped. Damian might've been short, but that was clearly only because his brother had taken all the height for himself.





	

**Author's Note:**

> For anon who sent me an ask that just said 'JON KENT!!!' and I'm still not sure that it was a prompt but here you go anyway anon. 
> 
> This is a prequel to a larger fic that I'm writing that I've alluded to in comments before. I just like writing Damian and Jon being friends and Jason being an obnoxious older brother it gives me life.

The thing was, Damian had gotten him the greatest Christmas gift ever.

So it only made sense that Jon returned the favor when he had a chance. There was just one problem with that—Damian was hard to find a gift for. He was rich, secretive and picky about the things he liked.

But one thing had become abundantly clear—he really liked that Red Hood toy his brother had stolen.

Several times already they had spent entire afternoons planning, staking out his brother's place, and executing plans to get it back, but Damian's big brother was both incredibly scary and crazy prepared, like he knew they were coming. Each attempt had failed to get the toy back, and Jon had already offered to take Damian and buy as many kid's meals as it took to get another one, but no, Damian was adamant.

It was his toy or nothing.

Which brought him here. Jon swallowed, staring up at the front door of the apartment that Damian's older brother most commonly used. He'd considered the window, but he'd probably be zapped with enough volts to take down a half-Kryptonian and Dad always said to be polite if you were going to ask someone for a favor.

All he had to do was knock on the door. Jon stared it at silently for a moment, willing himself to move. His survival instincts kept him rooted and still.

It was another long few minutes of silence before the door swung open, making him jump, startled.

Jason leaned out of the apartment and scowled down at him. "Did you want something or were you just going to stand out there like a dejected puppy all day?"

Jon gulped. Damian might've been short, but that was clearly only because his brother had taken all the height for himself. "Uh."

"Get in if you're coming in, otherwise scram." Jason held the door open, gesturing him in with a nod of his head.

Jon took a deep breath and stepped inside, peering around curiously as he did. The only times he'd been in any of Jason's places was in the middle of the night on Damian's stealth missions. It was way less terrifying in the day. The place was bright, airy and neat. There were weapons on the walls, as Jon had been expecting, but they looked awesome and decorative instead of terrifying and covered in blood.

He followed Jason into the living room and his eyes caught on the PS4 in front of the television. "Oh, cool! I didn't know adults had stuff like that."

Jason snorted, moving towards the kitchen. The apartment was mostly open plan, so Jon sat on the couch and swung his legs, watching Jason as he walked over to the fridge and peered inside. Jason glanced over at him. "You hungry?"

Jon nodded vigorously. "I'm always hungry."

"I'm not shocked." Jason dug around in the fridge. "You can play the PS4 if you want, kid.'

Jon didn't have to be told twice. It wasn't exactly how he expected this visit to go, but playing video games while Jason made him food was way better than being tied up and dangled outside the window by his feet like the last time Jason had caught them breaking into the apartment.

Jason even waited until after Jon had finished lunch before interrogating him. Jon had to resist the urge to lick the plate clean. 

Damian's brother slouched down across from Jon at the kitchen counter and raised an eyebrow. "Why exactly are you here?"

"Damian got me the best gift ever for Christmas," Jon explained. "I have to get him something equally good, and the only thing Damian seems to want in the entire world is his Red Hood toy back."

Jason made an amused noise, somewhere between a laugh and a snort. He propped his chin on his hand, his elbow resting on the kitchen counter. "Go on."

"I came here to ask if maybe you would consider letting me give the toy to Damian," Jon said, clasping his hands together in front of his face and pouting for good measure. "I'd really, really, really appreciate it and I know Damian would too even if he'd never ever say it."

"Okay," Jason said, shrugging. "Sure, why not?"

Jon blinked, dropping his hands. His mouth fell open a bit in shock. "Wait, really? Just like that?"

"There's one condition," Jason said, smirking. He straightened up and looked predatory all of a sudden, like one of those dinosaurs from the movie that Jon's Mom said he couldn't watch but he had anyway. He'd had nightmares for a week afterwards but it had been worth it.

"What kind of condition?" Jon asked, swallowing. He couldn't even imagine what kind of favor he could do for the actual Red Hood, of all people.

"You can't tell Damian the truth." Jason's smirk grew even more wicked at Jon's confusion. "You're going to take the toy, give it back to him, and tell him you stole it from me, fair and square."

This time Jon really did gape at him like an idiot. "What? You're gonna let me do that? And you're gonna let him _think_ that? Even if it ruins your reputation?"

Jason nodded. "Yup."

Jon frowned, tilting his head to the side. "Why?"

"Because it's going to drive him completely nuts," Jason replied.

It took a few seconds, and then Jon was laughing so hard he had to clutch his hands against his ribs. "Oh man! He's going to make the angry cat sounds! This is going to be great!"

This might be, officially, the best day ever.

Jason retrieved the Red Hood toy from a safe in his bedroom and handed it over. Jon took it eagerly, carefully wrapping it up in his cape. It took ten minutes to get from Jason's apartment to Damian's bedroom at the manor, and Jon was practically vibrating in excitement the entire time.

When he handed the bundle over to Damian, his friend looked confused until he unwrapped it, at which point his expression shifted to inscrutable.

Damian stared down at the toy, mouth tightening. "This isn't the real one."

Jon shrugged, linking his hands together behind his hand and swaying back and forth on his feet. "Call your brother if you don't believe me. It's totally authentic."

Damian's jaw worked, but no sound came out. Jon bit his lip, trying not to smile. This was way better than even the angry cat noises.

It took another fifteen minutes for Damian to call Jason and verify the authenticity of the Red Hood toy. Then the angry cat noises started, and Damian spent another fifteen hunting his father down and complaining that Red Hood was losing his touch. Jon had his phone out the entire time, recording every second. He figured he could give the video to Jason and get something good out of it.

He didn't know why Damian complained about having brothers so much, they seemed pretty cool to Jon.

Eventually, Damian stopped his tirade and placed the Red Hood toy on his dresser. He stared at it in baffled silence for a moment before turning to Jon and saying, stiffly, "Thank you."

Jon beamed.

It really was the best day ever.

***

His cell phone started vibrating at 3 am. Jon blinked at it blearily for a bit to see if it would stop before answering. "Hello?"

"He's taken it," Damian hissed.

Jon blinked. "What?"

"My toy!" Something in the background made a loud banging noise. "My idiot brother broke into my room and stole it back."

"Oh no," Jon replied, attempting to sound sympathetic and not dead tired.

"You know what this means?"

"I'm not getting to sleep again tonight?" Jon offered. He should have known this would backfire somehow.

Damian growled, low and dangerous. "This means war, Jon."

Oh boy.

 

**Author's Note:**

> Jon's POV is fun but different. XD
> 
> Tumblr is [here.](http://lysical.tumblr.com/)


End file.
